Kurt Barnard
Kurt Barnard
cautious consumers doubt good holiday indicator last moderately news number paycheck price saying season shopping waiting
Wal-Mart's news is a very big deal. There's no doubt that a significant number of consumers are shopping paycheck to paycheck. Most are also waiting for price reductions. So saying that the consumer is still cautious is a good indicator that the holiday season will only be moderately better than last year.
cautious consumers doubt good holiday indicator last moderately news number paycheck price reduction saying season shopping support tax waiting
Wal-Mart's news is a very big deal, ... There's no doubt that a significant number of consumers are shopping paycheck to paycheck. Most are also waiting for price reductions because they know that the support of another tax rebate or tax reduction is unlikely. So saying that the consumer is still cautious is a good indicator that the holiday season will only be moderately better than last year.
across consumers indicator jobs people seeing several situation trading turning worries
The jobs situation is still not resolved. Across several industries, inventories are rising, and we're seeing that consumers are trading down. That's an indicator that people are not beset with worries but they are turning cautious.
gap time
What the Gap is doing is not only what it must be doing, but what it should have done a long time ago.
clear economy evidence frightened happening list numbers point public saw today
What's happening is very simple. The numbers we saw today are clear evidence that the American public is shell-shocked to the point of being frightened over a big long list of circumstances surrounding the economy over which they have no power, no control.
bottom checks effect hurt itself nightmare results retailers tax worst
The worst part of these results is that they show that the effect of the tax rebate checks has petered out. This is a nightmare in itself for retailers and it doesn't bode well for Christmas. Also, we'll probably see more markdowns now, more than retailers anticipated for the holidays. That will hurt their bottom line.
companies consumer controls decent demand difficult economic evidence good however inventory nobody orders planning spring time until
They are all planning very cautiously, very carefully. Some companies have very decent inventory controls, but however good those controls are they still have to do some economic forecasting, and forecasting is a little difficult this time around. Nobody is going to spring for big orders until there's evidence that consumer demand is back, and there is no such evidence to date.
clear consumer decent evidence expect holiday last modest sales slow spending three
The sales clear evidence of modest consumer spending slow down. We expect a decent holiday sales season, but an unspectacular one. The last three have been spectacular, particularly the last one.
activity early full last levels lower retailers selling store surprised traffic year
Early indications show that store traffic and the promotional activity is at lower levels than last year at this time. I wouldn't be surprised if many retailers try to get away with selling merchandise at full price.
cash clients continue continued february half marked retail sales sore spending stood stronger telling year
February sales were very strong, stronger than anticipated in many instances. I will tell you that if you were a retailer in February and did not do very well, you stood out like a sore thumb. We're telling our clients that the first half of this year will continue to be marked by continued strong spending at the retail cash register.
february likely month past results seems seen spring testing
February is a testing month for spring, and the results have not been spectacular, ... There seems to be a sense of foreboding that while spring is likely to be a smidgen better than we have seen in past months, it is not going to be a barn-burner.
beginning blowing breeze caution cold consumers days general headlines layoffs newspapers seeing suddenly weakness winter
There's a general sense of weakness and caution and I'll tell you the headlines in the newspapers these days do not help, ... We're seeing more layoffs and consumers are beginning to feel there's a cold winter breeze suddenly blowing their way.
beginning blowing breeze caution cold consumers days general headlines layoffs newspapers seeing suddenly weakness winter
There's a general sense of weakness and caution and I'll tell you, the headlines in the newspapers these days do not help. We're seeing more layoffs and consumers are beginning to feel there's a cold winter breeze suddenly blowing their way.
exactly overall represent results sales
Sales results were not exactly exceptional and they do represent a slowdown in the overall economy,